Hikaru, Nihal, Nepo, Nodirbek in quarters @ EWC Riyadh

World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura (Team Falcons) made it to the quarter-finals after a heart stopping win against Chinese Grandmaster Wei Yi (Weibo Gaming) at the 2nd Esports World Cup 2025, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Also making it to the quarter-finals from the Losers Bracket were GMs Ian Nepomniachtchi (Aurora Gaming), Nihal Sarin (Team S8UL) and Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Team Na’Vi).

In the return game where Hikaru appeared to be coasting for victory, the American suddenly dropped gears found himself losing, but miraculously escaped. Wei Yi had a queen and rook against Hikaru’s lone king when the Chinese flagged, much to the relief of his opponent. The Team Falcons hero went on to win the Armageddon and moves on to the quarter-finals where he’s scheduled to meet in-form fellow Grandmaster American-Armenian Levon Aronian (Team Reject).

Nepomniachtchi (Aurora Gaming) defeated Artmiev and Esipenko setting up quarter final match with Erigaisi (Team Gen G). Indian speed merchant Nihal Sarin (Team S8UL) overcame Anish Giri (Team Secret) and  Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Team Vitality) booking his quarter-final spot against top seed Magnus Carlsen (Team Liquid).

In another game of high drama, GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Team Twisted Minds) had a painful exit when a mouse slip cost him the match. After getting the scores tied 1-1 against Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Team Na’Vi), the Armageddon match saw the Polish Grandmaster being let down by his own mouse. Intending to play 5…d5 Duda was shocked to see his pawn landing on 5…d6? one square short, costing him a piece, the game and possibly $ 20,000 in prize money pay out.

In what is part of this tournament format and regulations, the participants start with a key and when they win their mini-match they crush their opponent’s key through a set key crushing machine.

Quarter-final line-up:

Magnus Carlsen (Team Liquid) vs Nihal Sarin (Team S8UL)
Arjun Erigaisi (Team Gen G) vs Ian Nepomniachtchi (Aurora Gaming)
Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Team Na’Vi) vs Alireza Firouzja (Team Falcons)
Hikaru Nakamura (Team Falcons) vs Levon Aronian (Team Reject)

In the prize pool of $1.5 million the winner takes home $250,000 followed by the Runner-up $190000, third place $145000, fourth place $115000, fifth to eighth $85,000 each, ninth to twelfth $65,000 each, with the the last four placed GMs getting $50,000 each. The time control for two game mini-matches are 10 minutes (no increment), with an Armageddon game played, if necessary. The Group stage matches are played on 29th & 30th July while the play-offs are scheduled for 31st July & 1st August, 2025.

The life changing prize pool for the $ 70 million Esports World Cup 2025 third day’s play starts by Thursday 31st July at 3 PM local time, 5:30 PM IST.

Day 2: Results: Losers Brackets:
Group A: Ian Nepomniachtchi beat Artemiev 1.5-0.5, Ian Nepomniachtchi beat Esipenko 2-1
Group B: Nihal Sarin beat Anish Giri 2-0, Nihal Sarin beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 1.5-0.5
Group C: Javokhir Sindarov lost to Wei Yi 0-2, Hikaru Nakamura beat Wei Yi 2-1
Group D: Nodirbek Abdusattorov beat Fabiano Caruana 2-1, Nodirbek Abdusattorov beat Jan-Krzysztof Duda 2-1

Wei Yi (2746) – Nakamura Hikaru (2738) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. dxe5 d5 5. Nbd2 Qd7 6. Bd3 Nc5 7. Be2 Ne6 8. O-O Be7 9. Re1 O-O 10. Nf1 c5 11. Ng3 Rd8 12. b3 Nc6 13. Bd2 b6 14. Bd3 a6 15. a4 Rb8 16. Nf5 b5 17. Nxe7+ Qxe7 18. axb5 axb5 19. h4 h6 20. c3 c4 21. bxc4 bxc4 22. Bb1 Nc5 23. Be3 Ne4 24. Nd4 Nxd4 25. Qxd4 Qxh4 26. Bc2 Qe7 27. Ra7 Rb7 28. Ra8 Bf5 29. Rea1 Rbb8 30. R8a7 Rd7 31. Ra8 Rdd8 32. R8a5 Bg6 33. Ba4 Qb7 34. e6 Qe7 35. exf7+ Bxf7 36. Bf4 Ra8 37. Bc6 Rxa5 38. Rxa5 Qf6 39. Qxf6 gxf6 40. Bxh6 Nxc3 41. Kh2 d4 42. Bd2 Bd5 43. Rc5 Bxc6 44. Rxc6?? (44. Bxc3!) Ne4 45. Ba5 Rd5 46. Bb6

46…d3 0-1

Abdusattorov Nodirbek (2740) – Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2699) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bc4 Nxe4 5. Nxe4

5…d6?? (When Duda had intended to play 5…d5, a mouse slip lost him a piece & $20,000 in prize money) 1-0

Follow all the action LIVE through lichess.org and chess.com

Pictures Courtesy: Esports World Cup 2025

Gallery: https://esportsworldcup.com/en/gallery

Official Site: https://esportsworldcup.com/en/competitions/chess